Yamatai

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history of Japan

…an area referred to as Yamatai, the location of which remains in dispute. The characters used to represent the name Himiko mean “sun child,” or “sun daughter” in archaic Japanese, and it is interesting to note that later Japanese rulers claimed to be descendants of the sun goddess. That Himiko…

…are divided as to whether Yamatai was located in northern Kyushu or in the Kinai district (central Honshu). If it was in northern Kyushu, then the union of states was a purely local government, unrelated to the Yamato court of later times, but if it was in the Kinai district,…